Eagle of Bone
by Jantallian
Summary: Jess reckons he has nothing to lose any sleep over, but Slim knows different. Something powerful and uncanny has them both in its grip.
1. Chapter 1

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 **EAGLE OF BONE**

Jantallian

 _Dedicated to all those of you who asked for that hug_

 **1**

"A-ar-gh! Take it back! Get away from me! I can't stand it!"

Slim Sherman rocketed out of his peaceful bed as harsh screams shattered the air for the third night running. He was alongside the bunk almost before his eyes had opened, grabbing the thrashing man by his shoulders and trying to steady his violent convulsions.

"Jess, wake up! It's alright. There's nothing there!"

Jess Harper twisted against his grasp, trying to curl up into a ball. "It's eatin' me!" he groaned in obvious agony. "Eatin' me alive!"

"Jess, you're dreaming." Slim tried to keep his voice as calm and normal as possible, given that, even second-hand, this repeated nightmare had his own skin crawling. "Come on, partner, wake up." He knew if he could just get Jess out of sleep for a moment, the terror would pass.

"Come on down." He slid an arm under the struggling body and pulled gently but strongly. Jess rolled towards him and half-slid, half-fell off the top bunk, landing in a shuddering heap in Slim's arms.

Slim tightened his clasp, reckoning that the mere feel of human solidity and warmth would help to ease Jess's pain. "Easy now . .. easy. . . relax . ." He rubbed his hands firmly over the rock-hard tension which he could feel in Jess's shoulders and neck. "You're safe. It's gone."

He steered Jess over to Andy's vacant bed, pushed him down into sitting position and draped a blanket round him. The younger man was sweating profusely as if he'd been in a prolonged fight, but his skin was shivering and great shudders shook his lean frame every few seconds. Slim considered the efficacy of coffee at this point but decided that a good, strong hug was more likely to drive away the nightmare attacker. He sat down and put both arms round his suffering friend.

Jess turned into the warm, strong protection, burrowing his head against Slim's shoulder as if he were a tree Jess was trying to hide behind.

"It's ok," Slim assured him gently. "I'm right alongside you. Nothing's going to be stupid enough to tackle the two of us together."

"Horrible!" The whispered word sheered through Slim's attempt at humour but he figured it was the best way to continue.

"You're pretty horrible in this state," he teased lightly. "Or have you just seen -"

Jess's breath hitched and he gave a harsh, strangled moan: "The eagle. . ."

"What eagle?"

"The eagle of bone!" Jess's arms tightened round Slim as if he was terrified of being dragged away bodily.

"I'm with you against the eagle. I'm right here next to you." Slim went on hugging Jess tightly because there didn't seem to be anything else he could do to help. His arms were aching with the strain when finally the ragged breathing began to ease and the shuddering faded away. Jess sighed and loosed his stranglehold a little. Presently Slim was able to lower him gently onto Andy's bed and pull the covers over him.

He stood looking down at Jess's now calm slumber. The Texan had shifted on to his left side, one leg hitched, the way he always did - sleeping ready for action. Just that single habit alone had Slim profoundly worried. Jess could face up to pretty well anything or at least he'd stubbornly try to. Slim was not only concerned for the level of agony his friend had been suffering but for the uncharacteristic way in which he had responded to it. He knew first-hand the younger man's uncanny ability to switch off and ignore pain in the real world. And there weren't many things Jess was afraid of either, or if he was, he used the fear to good effect to keep his skin whole!

This nightmare was provoking a reaction which Slim had never seen before. Of course they all had nightmares from time to time, but Jess's usual habit was to beat a retreat to Traveller's stall and avoid disturbing the rest of them any further. This dream was quite different. The same dream three nights running for a start. A dream from which it was so difficult to wake him. A dream with such real and profound physical effects. Slim was wrenched with a deep pain of his own at his inability to do anything to help.

# # # # #

Dawn the next day bought no resolution of the problem. Slim woke first, as he nearly always did. All he could see of Jess was the usual tangle of dark hair sticking up out of Andy's blankets. He considered for a moment bringing him a cup of coffee in bed, but further thought led to the conclusion that keeping to a normal routine would probably be best.

Slim sighed and got slowly out of bed, for once not rising with his characteristic enthusiasm for the new day. When he rattled and banged around, rummaging through his drawers for clean clothes, Jess growled irritably, as he did every morning, and pulled the pillow over his head.

"Oh no you don't, my friend!" Slim snagged the pillow away as he went out to shave. "Time to face the light!" _Before you have to face the powers of darkness again!_ came unbidden into his mind.

When he returned, far from facing anything, Jess had disappeared completely under the bedclothes. Just like any other day.

"Up, Jess!" Slim ordered ruthlessly, determined not to give in to his instinctive urge to let the dreamer go on sleeping peacefully. "Get! Up! Now!" He grabbed the blankets and dragged them equally ruthlessly to the bottom of the bed. Same as every morning, except that Jess was not in the top bunk. Slim wondered what his partner would make of this.

"Ur-rr-ugh!" The resemblance to a sleeping cougar rashly prodded by some foolhardy soul was just the same too. "Gerroff me!"

"The sun's up. Time to get up," Slim informed the cougar sternly. After all, he had to go through this pretty much every morning and had become innured to such savage reactions.

"Ain't sunlight!" Jess's ability to ignore the forces of nature was remarkable, given that nature won every single day. Slim was wondering whether he would have to resort to the water ewer when the younger man rolled grudgingly out of the bed, his eyes still tight shut. He appeared to find his clothes by some kind of instinct, locating the crumpled pile on the floor with his bare feet. Satisfied that Jess was finally going to make it to the breakfast table, Slim hastened back to the kitchen to brew some extra strong coffee.

Breakfast was never an occasion for detailed discussion of anything, much less an in-depth interrogation along the lines of ' _why the heck have you woken me up three nights running in a screaming nightmare you can't escape from?'_ They'd fixed the work for the day the previous evening, like they always did. Getting Jess out of bed was bad enough without suggesting work was in the offing! Now, after a pint of black coffee, he managed to get on with clearing up the meal, uttering only a token grumble about the amount of washing up.

By the time the first stage of the day had pulled in, the silence between them had become companionable, each of them knowing their own part of the work and how it fitted efficiently with the efforts of the other. Later Slim had a deal of smithying to do and Jess rode out to check the southern boundary and bring down a bunch of yearling calves and their mothers to the safety of the nearer range. There was no opportunity for talk.

Nightfall always came too quickly at this time of year, making completion of the outside tasks a priority. Once it was dark, Jess turned his hand to producing the evening meal while Slim wrestled with the bank records and Stage Company returns. Over the meal they reviewed the day's work and planned the following day. Presently Jess stretched and stood up: "I'll do the night check."

"You sure? I don't mind if you want to stay by the fire." The words were out of Slim's mouth before he had time to realise that they were driven by a profound fear of letting Jess go alone into the night.

Jess stared at him in surprise. "I'm fine."

"In that case, I'll get the bandages out!" Slim quipped, trying to disguise his real feelings.

"Yeah, do that." Jess was automatically buckling on his gun-belt as he spoke. Then he grinned and added: "Unless y' want to come an' hold my hand t' make sure they ain't necessary?"

Since this was, without the hand-holding, more or less exactly what Slim did want to do, he had to feign relaxation as he pulled the couch closer to the fire. "Just offering."

Jess strolled over and looked down at him. "You're the one who needs to stay by the fire. Y' look done in. Bet you're asleep by the time I get back." Then he was gone and the door clicked shut behind him.

There was a horrible finality about the sound, as if an impenetrable barrier had dropped between the two of them. Slim sat bolt upright, listening intently. He heard the usual sounds: the creak of the barn door as Jess made sure the horses were settled for the night . . . the rattle of chains being checked on the other outbuildings . . . muffled thuds on the shutters at the back of the house . . . a solitary squawk from Jess's feathered enemies . . . snuffling and a low growl as he loosed the yard dogs. Then silence. Slim knew he would hear no footfalls: Jess moved as noiselessly as the cougar he so resembled in the morning. Slim held his breath.

The door opened without a sound, making him nearly jump out of his skin, as if he had expected someone or something other to come in. He hastily leaned down to put another log on the fire and missed the curious glance which Jess shot at him as he went into the kitchen to retrieve the coffee pot.

"Quit worryin', will y'?" Jess poured a mug and handed it to Slim, before dragging his favourite chair closer to the fire. "Are the books not balancin' or something?"

"It's tight," Slim admitted, not sure how to open the subject of ' _or something'_. "It always is at this time of year."

"So - if it always _is_ , y' ain't gonna change anything by losin' sleep over it, are y'?" Jess admonished with indisputable logic.

Slim seized the opening: "Are you losing sleep?"

Jess grinned affectionately at him. "With you doin' the books? Ain't got no reason to!"

"No, I mean having a disturbed night -?" Slim hesitated, but opted for being straightforward: "You know – a lot of dreams?"

A slight frown drew Jess's black brows together and then he shrugged dismissively. "I don't recall any."

"Are you sure?"

The frown turned into a scowl. " 'Course I'm sure! What's gotten into you this evening?"

 _I'm afraid of what's got into you!_ Slim did not dare give voice to his ill-omened thoughts. Instead he said, "You were worse than ever this morning! Talk about getting out of the wrong side of the bed."

The scowl transformed into a laugh. Jess didn't like getting up, but he enjoyed giving Slim a hard time over it. "Ain't no right side for me."

"Yeah, I know that! But did you actually notice which bed you got out of?"

"What d'y' mean?" Jess looked very faintly uneasy.

"You spent half the night in Andy's bed."

Jess shrugged and stated again: "I don't recall doin' that."

"Jess, think hard! Can you remember me hauling you off the bunk?"

"Not since the last time y' did it in the mornin'. I had a hell of a hangover then, that I do recall," Jess admitted with a wry grin.

"Well, I did it last night."

"Why? Ain't no call for y' to be man-handlin' me in the middle of the night!" Jess protested indignantly. Not only did he dislike being woken up, but his sleep was sacrosanct and had the total abandon of a child-like trust in the security of the place which had become his home.

"Jess, you were calling out."

"I was? What did I say?"

Slim took a deep breath. There was no way to soften the horror. "You were screaming. You were crying out that something was -" he gulped, "- was eating you alive."

Jess looked puzzled, rather than shocked. He said a third time: "I don't recall." After a pause, he added: "You're makin' this up, aren't y'? Pullin' my leg, 'cause I won't get up at dawn?"

"I'm not fooling around. Last night was the third night in a row."

Silence fell between them. Slim stole a glance at his partner. Jess looked absolutely normal, rocking gently in the rocking chair, an empty mug clasped in his hands. Slim picked up the pot from the hearth and gave them both a refill. If Jess couldn't or wouldn't talk about the dream, trying to force him would only make this strange situation worse.

After a while, when the coffee had been drunk, Slim said apologetically, "I was trying to help."

Jess looked up and smiled the crooked half-smile which always went straight to Slim's heart. "I know that, part'ner! Just seems odd that I don't know . . ." His voice trailed off uncertainly.

"Do you know what you meant by _'the eagle of bone_ '?"

There was no response. It was as if a thick cloak had been dropped over them, muffling every sound. Jess had stopped rocking and was sitting utterly still. His face was remote, expressionless. He might have been carved out of bone himself, cold, dark, lifeless bone, old beyond the age of the world. When he finally spoke his voice was smooth as silver, a sound like the colour of bone in the moonlight, speaking from far beyond the edge of life:

" _The one who bears the eagle's claw must walk the road between life and death. What has been shared must be restored. This is the law."_

The words fell into the fire-lit living-room, like chilly drops of water falling from a great way above. Slim did not dare move a muscle. He could hardly stand to look at Jess, so great was the feeling of separation. It was as if he were alone in the room and Jess was alone following a cold, inimical trail and nothing could ever bring them together again.

Slim was sitting with his eyes shut, praying wordlessly, when he heard the sound of the rocking chair beginning to move gently. Jess sighed and murmured, "I must be tireder than I thought. Guess I'll turn in." He yawned mightily, stretched and stood up. "G'night, part'ner. Sleep well."

And Slim was alone beside the fading fire.


	2. Chapter 2

**EAGLE OF BONE**

Jantallian

 **2**

They did not discuss the dream again. The following night was quiet and the succeeding nights also. The days were quiet too, filled with the hard work of securing the buildings, repairing equipment, getting in supplies and rounding up stock, ready for the onset of winter.

Jess worked with his usual single-minded concentration when faced with a heavy workload. It was Slim who became increasingly jumpy as the days progressed. The dream and its aftermath had affected him profoundly and he could not understand why his partner remained so untouched. If anything, Jess was unusually calm, given his essentially volatile nature. Just every now and then he would become totally still, as if listening to something beyond the range of human hearing. It made cold shivers run down Slim's spine. There seemed to be nothing he could do to avert whatever was hanging over them.

It was mustangs who provoked the crisis. The pair of them had been riding out on the edge of the badlands all day, chasing a wild bunch with singular lack of success, and had finally given up and turned for home. Slim was getting increasingly irritable: he disliked having to supplement their income by expanding the horse-herd, even though he knew this was really Jess's first love and particular area of expertise. Wasting a whole day without catching a thing was bound to get under his skin, whereas Jess usually just reveled in the thrill of a chase over rough country regardless of the results.

Today though he was almost absent minded and his attention seemed to be on the distant peaks rather than the territory around them. It was several minutes before Slim, who was riding in the lead, realised that there was no one following him. Alamo stopped of his own accord and let out a piercing neigh. Traveller answered almost immediately. The sound came from behind and on completely the wrong route for home.

Slim gave a growl of impatience and reluctantly turned back. It took him a few minutes to catch up with his partner, who was riding determinedly towards the nearest peak in a direction which caused Slim considerable misgivings.

"D'you know where you're heading?" he demanded crossly.

Jess did not answer, just pushed his hat back as he scanned the precipice breaking the mountainside ahead.

"This is tribal territory," Slim pointed out. "We've been too close all day for my liking."

Jess turned his head and gave him a long look. The look suggested that Slim was making a fuss over nothing. It did not improve the atmosphere. Jess pulled his hat back over his eyes and continued as if Slim had not spoken. Slim rode glumly and irritably in his wake. His keen anticipation of trouble was nothing new where Jess was concerned, but had been given a much fiercer edge by the unexplained dream.

It seemed as if Jess was looking for something. It was not, however, tracks. Although he could and did track as well as any Indian scout, he was indifferent to the terrain over which they were riding. He kept his eyes fixed on the precipice. Slim followed his gaze.

There was bird-sign. Dark wheeling shapes, coming down again and again in the same place. Something or someone up ahead was helpless. The birds would not have been attracted otherwise. There was no help for it now, Slim knew. They could not turn back. They were honour-bound to investigate.

As if he read Slim's mind, Jess urged Traveller into a gallop, cutting his way swiftly across the rocky upland and sliding scree as if it was an open road. Slim wondered grimly if they were both going to break their necks or the horses' legs, but nothing was going to make him fall behind now. Jess was not just being reckless, he really didn't seem to be connected with his surroundings at all. Fortunately Traveller and Alamo were both very sure-footed, but neither of them seemed to be enjoying the experience any more than Slim was.

At such a speed, it took them little time to reach the foot of the precipice. The wheeling birds had been disturbed from their nests on the cliff-face and were swooping and diving towards the base, all focusing on the same spot. It was obvious that they were looking at a potential meal but had not yet decided whether it was actually dead.

"Ravens!" Jess muttered, half to himself. "Smellin' death of course."

"Yeah." Slim took hold of his rifle, intending to fire and scare the birds off, but Jess grabbed his arm and prevented him.

"Look there!"

A solitary eagle was cruising high above, scarcely moving its wings as it coasted along the face of the precipice. The ravens took no notice of it at first. Then its vast wingspan cast a deep shadow over the ground and whatever lay on it. The ravens because raucous in their frustration at no longer being able to see their target, but, intelligent as they were, they did not seem to be able to work out that it was a shadow cloaking the body which lay crumpled at the foot of the cliff. The sight of the great bird made Slim shudder and close his eyes for a moment. When he looked again, Jess had taken off once more at a frantic gallop.

Traveller skidded to a halt almost on top of the body and Jess jumped down to bend over it. Slim pulled up rather less abruptly, but dropped to his knees on the other side. He looked down. He looked up and met Jess's eyes.

"Storm Feather!"

They both knew the young brave over whose crumpled body they were now bending. They'd had a tussle with him over the little matter of who claimed a dead elk, but fortunately this had been resolved without bloodshed. In fact, Storm Feather had been impressed by their willingness to confront him and not back down. Slim and Jess had been invited to join in the feast at the nearby village and counted themselves on reasonably friendly terms with this particular tribe.

Now they were gazing at the broken body of a young man much the same age as Slim. One with whom they had shared not only hunting and feasting, but some good-natured wrestling, tale-telling round the fire and, within the limitations of language, swapping tall stories and jokes. As near as could be, given the volatile situation between the tribes and the settlers, the three counted themselves as friends.

They both instinctively pulled off their hats, recognising the gravity of the situation. Storm Feather lay close to the foot of the precipice, as if he had fallen from the very top. This was inexplicable, since Storm Feather was renowned for his climbing skills and his daring exploits on the mountain heights. They made no attempt to move him. It was obvious from the way his body was twisted that his back was broken and there was visible damage to his rib-cage, where dark bruises probably indicated internal bleeding. Those same ribs heaved sporadically and each breath he drew in was achieved by a huge effort. It was a miracle he was still breathing at all. Despite the extent of his injuries, he made no sound and gave no indication of pain. Indeed his face was calm and serene.

While they were still wondering what on earth they could do to help, Storm Feather opened his eyes.

"My friends! It is good that you are here …"

From the point of view of the two cowboys, this was not necessarily obvious. They were helpless in the face of such injuries, because even the slightest movement would cause more damage. If Storm Feather died, as seemed all too likely, being found with the dead body of a notable warrior, the son of the tribe's medicine man, was going to create an unpredictable situation. And above all this, it was horrible to see their friend, a brave whose courage and endurance they could not hope to equal, trapped in the battered remnant of his once powerful body. They knew well enough that the tribe could not support a cripple, even if he were able to survive his injuries. Nor would Storm Feather endure such a life.

He looked from Jess to Slim and back again. Then he appeared to come to a decision. His dark penetrating gaze locked eyes with Jess and he said in his own tongue: "You understand. You know."

Jess looked puzzled for a second before he slowly nodded. His face lost the look of horrified concern it had born, becoming stern and emotionless as that of the brave himself. Slim held his breath in an agony of suspense.

Storm Feather made a convulsive movement and clutched something he wore on a rawhide thong round his neck. With difficulty he managed to work it over his head until it was free. Slim and Jess watched but both felt somehow bound to refrain from any move to help him.

A stillness held them all when Storm Feather had done this. His eyes closed and his breathing wrenched and struggled against the damage to his ribs. Slim and Jess waited as if they had been commanded to do so.

At last, by a mighty effort of will, Storm Feather opened his eyes and reached out to grab Jess by his shoulder. "You know," he insisted again, this time in English. He used the handhold to pull himself up into sitting position, although the effort made a thin trickle of blood run from his mouth. Jess reached an arm carefully round his back to support him.

"It is good," Storm Feather affirmed again. He sighed quietly, but his lips curved a little in an unexpected smile. "I soar no more. Take my body to my father. And take this …" He lifted his hand to drop the thong over Jess's head.

"Jess, don't -!" Slim cried in sudden agonised apprehension.

It was too late. Jess was already tucking the leather thong under his bandanna with his free hand and the object hung from it was concealed by his shirt.

Storm Feather's head fell back against Jess's shoulder. "It must be returned to the place from which it came so that my spirit may be free to fly with the one who gave it." His eyes closed and did not open again. It was over.

Or perhaps it had just begun.

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The tribe and customs in this story are purely imaginary and intended respectfully.


	3. Chapter 3

**EAGLE OF BONE**

Jantallian

 **3**

The village was silent. Even the smoke rose from the fires in thin motionless columns, as if it had been drawn across the sky with a paint-brush. The normal rough and tumble of children at play, the steady, purposeful movement of the squaws, even the scavenging and scratching of the dogs – all was still.

Standing in the centre, Leaping Cloud watched the two horsemen descending slowly and reverently down the mountainside. They were bare-headed - a mark, he knew, of respect. The bay horse was carrying a burden, a limp body cradled in its rider's arms. The chestnut stepped close behind it, the pale-haired man never taking his eyes from the pair in front for a moment. Leaping Cloud let out a pent-up breath. The time had come.

The horses came on at a slow walk between the two rows of mustered braves who lined the way into the village. The women and children gathered in small groups between the lodges. In the stillness and silence, only the wind moaned like a sob across the face of the mountain, fluttering lance-pennants and lodge-doors in its wake. The medicine man stood waiting. An old man, but the only way it showed was in his long, silver hair. His body was lean and upright, his face smooth and impassive, his strength as evident as that of any young man.

He watched the three young men approaching. The time was here.

The rider of the bay made his mount halt and kneel. It looked like an act of homage, but Leaping Cloud knew it was just the result of good training. The dark man eased out of his saddle and stood upright, with Storm Feather's body across his arms. The other one was at his shoulder in a swift movement, as if to assert that they were to be considered as one. The old man smiled inwardly: _Had he not known this about them from the first moment he met them?_

The medicine man regarded them gravely. There was no sign in his face that he was looking at the body of his son. The rest of the tribe took their demeanour from him. There was a hush of acceptance where there might have been grief and rage. It was somehow oddly reassuring. Almost as if they had been expected.

Leaping Cloud turned away and walked towards his lodge. He made no signal, but Jess followed him with the young brave's body as if he had been ordered to. And Slim followed Jess, not half a pace behind, close at his shoulder, in his accustomed position.

Inside, the old man stood beside the sleeping place.

Jess knelt and Slim knelt beside him.

Carefully they eased Storm Feather on to the soft furs which made his last sleeping place. Carefully they straightened his limbs, smoothed his hair, folded his hands upon his breast.

The medicine man watched them impassively.

When there was nothing else they could do for Storm Feather's dignity, the partners got to their feet again and faced his father. Unexpectedly, Leaping Cloud took his seat by the fire and gestured to them to do the same. They sat in silence. They sat for a long, long while.

 **# # # # #**

It was almost too long. Slim had not had a great deal of practice at sitting cross-legged and it was in the far distant past that Jess had learnt to do so for hours at a time without moving. Perhaps Leaping Cloud sensed this and had pity on them, for he stirred and spoke.

"My friends! It is good that you are here …"

The sudden repetition of Storm Feather's words made the hairs rise on the back of Slim's neck. There was worse to come.

Leaping Cloud looked steadily at Jess. "The time is now. You know. You understand." Once more it was a statement, not a question.

Jess regarded him impassively. Slim suddenly realised why he was so good at keeping a 'poker-face' when he needed to. Somewhere along the line, he had learnt something akin to the level of control which rendered an Indian brave inscrutable to the eyes of the outsider. Jess seemed to be considering the statement. Then he inclined his head slightly.

The old man looked at last towards the bed. "My son's warrior name was 'Soars with Eagles'. This name he earned. This spirit he shared."

There was another period of silence until Leaping Cloud returned his gaze to Jess. Slim bit his lip: he feared he knew too well what was coming.

Jess was sitting utterly still. His face was remote, expressionless. He might have been an image carved from bone, rather than a living being.

When Leaping Cloud finally spoke his voice was smooth as silver, a sound like the colour of bone in the moonlight, speaking from far beyond the edge of life: " _The one who bears the eagle's claw must walk the road between life and death. What has been shared must be restored. This is the law. You know this."_

"I know it." Jess's hand went to the hidden object on the leather thong.

Leaping Cloud rose easily to his feet. "Stand up."

Jess stood up just as fluidly. Slim sat holding himself utterly still, not daring even to breathe, feeling that at any moment he could be noticed and ejected without pity from whatever was going on in this lodge. Certainly Leaping Cloud took no notice of him. His attention was totally concentrated on Jess.

"Take off your gun."

Jess slowly unbuckled his gun-belt. He stood with it stretched between his two hands for a moment. Some essential part of him was being deliberately cut away: the very skill that he relied on being rendered useless here. He stooped and laid the gun-belt across Slim's knees. Then he straightened up and waited for the next order.

"No boots. No coat. No shirt."

Jess discarded them.

"You have a knife?"

Jess bent again and fished out his knife from where he kept it in his left boot.

"You may bear the knife."

Jess pushed it into the belt of his pants, the only garment he was now wearing. Around his neck was the leather thong on which hung the curving talon of a huge eagle.

"Return what has been shared to the Place of Bone, so that my son's spirit may be freed from this life and truly soar with the eagles. Go now."

At this, Jess took a step towards the door, but hesitated. _Where was he supposed to go?_ It was a question unspoken, but racing through Slim's mind as well.

"You will know." The silent question was answered but the answer brought little comfort to the hearers.

The door curtain of the lodge flapped and Jess was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**EAGLE OF BONE**

Jantallian

 **4**

There was a horrible finality about the sound of the curtain: an impenetrable barrier had fallen between the two of them. Slim sat bolt upright, listening intently as if he could hear the noiseless footfall of Jess's bare feet, so desperately did he want to hold on to the connection with him. But a thick cloak of silence had been dropped over the village muffling every sound. He knew he had lived through these sensations before, so great was the feeling of separation. He was alone in the lodge and Jess was alone following a cold, inimical trail and, in his heart, Slim feared terribly that nothing could ever bring them together again.

Slim was sitting with his eyes shut, praying wordlessly, when he heard the faint clink of pottery being struck by something hard. Then there was a sudden hiss and a blast of hot steam which filled the air. Slim's eyes snapped open and he saw the fire in the centre of the lodge. Leaping Cloud was kneeling over it, a water-skin in his hand. He had dowsed the fire as a gesture of grief.

But not entirely. Placed in a line, close to the steaming ashes, were three pottery bowls, each with its own fire burning steadily. Slim frowned, puzzled, but began to struggle to his feet, feeling that he no longer had a place or a role here.

He was wrong. Leaping Cloud arrested him with a small gesture. Slim sank back down. The three bowls of flame flickered and danced, holding his eyes and binding him in his place. The medicine man leant forward and tossed a pinch of herbs into each of the bowls. The smell was sweet and bitter at the same time. It permeated the lodge, mingling with and overwhelming the stench of the cold ash. A smell of life, not death.

"Tend the fires. One for the fair one, one for the dark one, one for the spirit of my son." Leaping Cloud touched each bowl in turn. "One for the protector, one for the bearer, one for the Eagle spirit. Feed the fires. As long as his flame burns, your brother will return."

The door curtain of the lodge flapped again and Slim was alone, crouched over three glowing bowls of fire.

 **# # # # #**

Jess stepped out of the lodge. The village was completely silent and deserted. There was no smoke from the fires, but a smell in the air of damp ash. They had all been doused in mourning. There was no movement. Even the dogs and the ponies were huddled somewhere out of sight, stilled in their tracks. There were no people. The lodges were shut and the space between them empty. There was no light. Dusk had fallen long ago.

It was a strange world, this world of grief and mystery. Silent. Motionless. Like the mountains poised above them. _You will know where to go._ Jess began to walk towards the mountains. _After all, eagles live high up_.

He could see nothing but the dark slope ahead of him. It grew steeper and steeper. The dusk closed down and the night ruled. Blackness cloaked everything. Soon Jess could only tell which way he was going by the rough terrain under his bare feet. He kept on walking.

After an indefinite time, he was climbing hand over hand up a rugged cliff-face. Jess hated climbing. The farther up he went, the greater the drop behind him. But he kept going. _You know where to go. Up!_

He went up and up. The cliff seemed never-ending and a sudden fearful urgency gripped his heart. _Suppose he was too late?_ He had no memory of the nightmare – Slim had protected him from that by bearing the horror of it himself. Jess knew what he should fear, but he did not. He was only conscious of the enormous responsibility he bore for Storm Feather and the utter trust placed in him by Leaping Cloud in the lodge far below.

 **# # # # #**

There was a small heap of twigs, pine cones and wood-chippings in one corner of the lodge. Slim regarded it doubtfully. He would have to be very sparing, very, very careful if he was going to keep three fires going, however small they were.

He watched the flickering flames until they seemed to be printed on the back of his eyes. He dare not let them sink too low, but if he put on too much fuel, the fires would blaze up and burn out more swiftly. Each small piece of wood he added was a calculated decision.

He soon noticed something strange. The first and third bowls burned quietly, but in the middle bowl – the one Leaping Cloud had designated _the dark one, the bearer, your brother_ – the flames sometimes burnt steadily, sometimes shuddered and flickered as if they were about to go out. Slim soon found he had to feed this fire more often than the other two and it needed watching all the time.

Slim watched. He watched and tended the fire with every fiber of his being straining to concentrate, every addition of fuel calculated and dedicated to keeping the flame alight.

But the fuel was running low.

 **# # # # #**

At last Jess stood at the summit of the climb and looked ahead. His breath drew in with a sharp hiss. The cliff had been bad enough but at least it was a solid surface which you could come to grips with. Ahead of him stretched a narrow saddleback of land, barely wide enough for a footfall, and with an unimaginable drop into the darkness on either side. It did not seem possible that this could be the way he must follow.

 _You will know._

He stood stock-still, his heart racing and his breath heaving in his lungs nearly as unevenly as Storm Feather's had. _My son's warrior name is Soars with Eagles._ Storm Feather had come this way and earned his name and his spirit-companion. It must be passable!

Still Jess could not force himself to move. He doubted if anyone could have made this passage across the knife-edge path without some fear, but his own dread of heights was paralyzing. As he stood on the brink, a cold wind whipped across his bare back. There was a sudden stab of pain in his chest. It felt as if … as if the talon round his neck had suddenly buried itself in his flesh …. as if an eagle had clawed him … hooked its grip into his muscles … was impelling him towards the ridge …

Jess tried to pull back, but the pain was excruciating. Suddenly the real physical horror of his nightmare struck at him! It was pure agony: _It's eating me alive!_ He was shaking so much he could barely control his movements, let alone balance on that narrow strip of safe footing. But all at once a strange warmth and strength seemed to flow gently through him. A feeling of protection. Of being watched over. Sustained by this, he moved. His left foot moved to take the first step. Then his right. And his left again. Slowly and inexorably, he began to walk.

At once, the pain in his chest subsided until it was just on the edge of feeling. As long as he kept moving, it remained so. He found too that the ridge was not as untrustworthy as it looked. At least there were footholds, worn indentations in the rock, which made it like walking over the spine of some long-dead animal. The cold wind kept pressing at his back, but this time it seemed to support him. On either side of him, shielding him from the abyss, huge invisible wings were beating.

The moment he faltered or slowed his pace, the piercing of the talon was renewed and he became vividly and inescapably aware that there was, in fact, nothing between him and a fall exactly like the one which had killed Storm Feather. But still, in the worst moments, the same warm strength reached out to enfold him, and as long as he kept moving steadily, something moved with him, held him up and sustained him.

At last he reached the far side and collapsed, sick and shaking uncontrollably, on the narrow ledge at the end of the saddleback.

 **# # # # #**

The fuel was almost exhausted. Slim's hand shook as he fed the last few small chips of wood into the three bowls. All the fires needed feeding, but the middle one most of all. The bearer's flame was dull and low, as if it scarcely had the energy to burn, while the other two still shone bright and clear.

Slim was certain that Jess was going through some crisis, a challenge which he needed all his stubborn strength to face. But his flame was flickering and with the last of the fuel gone, there had to be some other way to keep this fire alight and, with it, the promise that Jess would return.

He looked at the other two bowls. The only option was to use them to sustain the middle fire. Leaping Cloud had not said _how_ he was to keep the three flames alight, only that he was to tend them. Jess was responsible for the freedom of Storm Feather's spirit, whatever the cost to himself. It was a trial undertaken on Storm Feather's behalf, a sacred trust born of friendship. But Storm Feather was already dead. The life of the flames could not bring him back. He, on the other hand, could lend to Jess the indomitable strength which Slim sensed he would need to complete this task.

He picked up the third bowl and carefully tipped half of the contents into the fire of the bearer.

The flames surged, joined and blazed with power.

 **# # # # #**

Jess raised his head – pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. He was furiously angry with his weakness, his fear and the pain that he would never admit to suffering. In a split second he was on his feet, his head flung back, his eyes raking the mountainside for the next step of his journey. He would not give in!

That step was not far to find. The ledge on which he was standing was only a few feet across. Behind him was the fearful drop. Facing him the mountainside reared up cold and lifeless into the darkness, the rock-face gleaming faintly with the colour of bone in the moonlight, for the old moon was rising imperceptibly behind him. Immediately in front of him was a low opening in the rock – a gateway leading far beyond the edge of life.

Jess clenched his fists until his nails drew blood. His whole body was poised and balanced on the threshold between one existence and another. Every fibre, every muscle, every cell strained to flee from this place where he had no business to be, but he would not retreat. He ground his teeth, calling on every ounce of stubborn will that he possessed.

 _You will know the way._

He must go forward. He would go forward. The strength came from somewhere. It was not warm so much as blazing, racing through his veins with a surge of power. The eagle's claw was infused with fire, branding its shape into his skin.

And beyond the opening, something wild called to Jess: something wild, but so familiar that it was a part of him. He stepped over the threshold.

Immediately he found himself in total darkness. There was a sense of enormous space all around him. Although he had instinctively ducked his head as he passed through the rock-face, he knew that any roof to this place was so far above as to be invisible even in the strongest light. But he had no light.

He stood still, waiting. Gradually a cold glow, a little like the moonlight but much more intense, began to illuminate his surroundings. It was powerful yet limited. It seemed to be coming from inside him. From his heart. It was a few moments before he realised that the source was the eagle's claw.

By its light, he saw a faint path leading onward into the immense darkness, a silver trail like that of a snail – but a snail of giant size. To his immense surprise, Jess found a chuckle rising in his throat at the thought of encountering any such creature. _It seemed so absurd!_ Nonetheless, the trail was the only indication of where he had to go and the only other option was to retreat now. Once he had begun this part of the quest, he could not go back. Or if he did, he had no doubt that his nightmare would shortly become a reality.

 _On, then._ It was the only way.

Jess moved silently, stealthily, as if he was hunting something. He was instantly aware of the vastness of the cavern, whose curving walls soared high above him. It was like being in a immense tent which had somehow been turned into stone – or bone. The sweeping arches and mighty buttresses and deep hollows almost seemed as if they were flexing, moving, flowing all around him and only became solid when he looked directly at them. Running through the darker rock were long seams of white alabaster and glittering quartz, intricate patterns which were as detailed and realistic as any painting – but all done with a bush of stone. By the light of the claw, Jess caught brief glimpses of scenes that seemed to come from an unimaginably distant past – seas and stars and forests and fires, all drawn and captured in thin lines of bone. It was stunningly beautiful.

He trod carefully, gently, each touch of his bare feet on the cold stone floor seeming like an intrusion of mortality upon something eternal. The floor rose and fell. He climbed rises as steep as any staircase and passed through narrow clefts, harsh and tight, as they led him through into further and further caverns.

As he moved on, the illumination from the claw grew ever stronger.

By its light, he suddenly saw the wolf. Its head was flung up in a silent howl as it balanced on the towering rock far above his head. It shimmered, bone-white in the intense spirit-light. It did not move. Jess was not afraid of wolves, but he had a deep and healthy respect for them. _Had it seen him?_ The eye-sockets in the broad head were dark pools. _Could it smell him?_ The narrow muzzle was pointed towards the floor of the cavern but there was no sign of any breath in the cold air.

Jess's own breath hitched in surprise and sudden realisation. He was not looking at a living wolf. The creature was bone-white because what he could see were its bones! It was poised on top of the rock because the rock was a stalagmite. The water dripping slowly and relentlessly from above, one drop at a time, had formed over centuries into the shape of the predator. Or perhaps a real wolf had stood there long enough for its bones to turn to limestone and its shape be etched forever in the slowly growing rock?

With a gulp and a relieved grin, Jess continued on his way. It was good to know that he didn't have a live wolf at his back. He much preferred the hunter where he could see it! But soon he could see much more. Once his eyes had become attuned to the shadows of the cavern and the radiance of the claw, he perceived that the wolf was not alone.

Ahead of him, against the wall of the cave, he could see the broad lines of the antlers and spear-like tines of a huge elk. Its body formed part of a vast buttress, down which the calcifying water trickled, but its noble head and majestic antlers stood out, pale and luminous, against the dark rock. The mere sight assured Jess that it could not be alive, for the rutting season was past and the males were already shedding their antlers. He paused to admire the magnificent animal, so vividly was its swift strength portrayed by the curving lines of bone. As soon as he did so, the light from the claw began to fade and did not return to full strength until he strode on along the glimmering trail.

Rounding the buttress of the elk, he almost skidded to a halt, for right in his path was a wolverine. It wasn't the first time Jess had met one, but he sincerely hoped it would be the last! He'd come across this powerful and versatile predator during a brief foray into Canada and he knew that its ferocity and strength were out of all proportion to its size. It was quite capable of killing prey many times larger than itself. Although Jess didn't think it would normally attack a human, this was not a normal situation. As it peered at him from between two flanking stalactites, the broad and rounded head with its small, black eyes seemed to be sizing him up, even though he knew perfectly well it was only a skeleton like the other animals he had seen.

He kept moving, past the wolverine and up into yet another chamber. As he slid through the narrow entrance the claw blazed even brighter and that fiery strength surged through him again, as if encouraging him into the very last stage of his quest.

A gigantic boulder was patterned with the curly coat and massive structure of charging buffalo. Jess had seen enough skeletons littering the plains along the path of the railroad to be in no doubt about what it was. The bones were even huger than those he had seen in his own world and across its lowered head the gleaming horns seemed to stretch out for ever. Jess shuddered at the sight, not because he was afraid of this enormous beast, but because he knew how intricately and vitally it was woven into the physical and mystical fabric of tribal life. There could be no more telling symbol of the bridge between life and death than this one. Nor any more potent condemnation of his right to be there at all.

 _Storm Feather had entrusted him with the eagle's claw. Leaping Cloud had sent him._ Jess forced himself to focus on this duty, this small but momentous act of trust and co-operation between peoples who were so often determined to exterminate each other. He made himself keep moving.

All too soon his resolution was assailed by a well-nigh irresistible temptation to stop. Ahead of him, lying sinuously draped across a rock ledge was the sleek outline and blunt head of a cougar. Its long tail was a sweeping stroke of white, curving around its broad paws and powerful hind legs. Even the bristling whiskers were perfectly formed on the round head by a delicate filigree of bone and the ears were so erect Jess expected them to twitch at any moment. Its powerful forequarters, neck, and jaw hung over the edge of the ledge, poised in ambush. It was slender and agile and utterly at ease in its solitary freedom – and it called to Jess, rousing something deep in his own spirit.

But he knew what would happen if he stopped. He didn't take his eyes off the fascinating outline, which unlike the others seemed to be tinged with the faintest glow of gold, the bones radiating the colour that its coat would be outside. Still he kept moving and the trail seemed to guide his feet without him looking.

When he did look ahead, he was face to face with a bear. Or rather, he was face to stomach with a bear, since the enormous skeleton reared on its hind legs far over his head. The massive paws with their scythe-like claws seemed about to drop on him. He could see right through it, but somehow that did not make it any the less menacing. There was more threat in just the bones of this animal than seemed possible. It did not need to be alive to generate total fear. Somehow the fire burning within Jess compelled him to walk past or, perhaps, the trail itself carried him round it.

Then there was nothing. The cavern stretched on further and further into the bowels of the mountain, but there were no more animals, no more graceful bones and eerily glowing outlines. This was the end. A blankness. A darkness. An absence. The claw glowed with painful brilliance and the brand in Jess's skin throbbed painfully.

Before him was another rock formation, a stalagmite like the others, but this one bare of any formation, as if something was missing and had been loosed or torn away. As if it was waiting to be filled. Jess had no conscious thought or knowledge of what to do next. He just knew that he had come to return something which had been lent and shared – the thing that was hanging round his neck.

He fell to his knees on the cold stone. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. He loosed the leather thong and pulled it from round his neck. He held out the eagle's claw in the palm of his cupped hands.


	5. Chapter 5

**EAGLE OF BONE**

Jantallian

.

 **5**

The bearer's flame became still, burning clear and slender and upright like a shaft of sunlight striking directly from above. _There was no sunlight. There was no light at all_. Slim was absolutely certain of this. He observed patiently. He watched over the bowl of fire and waited for the crisis which he knew hung over them all.

The flame seemed to bend in on itself with a curious bowing motion. It began to shrink with appalling rapidity. Slim's hand was barely swift enough to tip the last of the fire from Storm Feather's bowl into Jess's.

Again the flames surged, joined and blazed with power.

But now there was only his own fire left to strengthen Jess and save him from agony and destruction. For he had no doubt that the fire represented the essence and life-force of each of them. _What would happen if he used his own spirit_? Slim pushed this consideration aside. He would give his life and more than his life for Jess, if need be. Instead he thought about the task Jess had been set and how best he could help bring it to benign completion.

He wanted to do something, to take some physical action and to be there in the place and time when Jess needed his help most. Leaping Cloud had not said that he must remain in the lodge. Neither had he said where Jess was to go except to give the name: 'The Place of Bone'. And it all had something to do with the eagle's claw. Like Jess himself, Slim came to the conclusion that eagles were likely to be found in mountains. So if he was to be any use, he must take the fire up the mountain. He must find Jess and reunite him with it.

Slim stood up. He thought carefully, taking into consideration the way Leaping Cloud had sent Jess out. After a moment, he took off his gun-belt and laid it alongside Jess's. The sight of the two of them lying there stabbed his heart painfully. It was as if they themselves lay dead, side by side. Shaking off this ill-omened thought, he thrust his knife through his belt. Jess had been made to go bare-foot, but Slim was pretty sure that he would not be treading in the obviously holy place where Jess had been sent. It made no sense to go ill-clad and vulnerable unless you had to.

 _Vulnerable!_ The very word brought back Jess's terrible nightmare and its agonizing consequences.

Slim waited no longer. He stooped and picked up the two bowls, one in each hand. He shouldered his way past the curtain. It fell behind him with an inescapable finality.

He had chosen. Now he must fulfil his choice.

 **# # # # #**

Jess knelt for a long time in the position he had chosen. His arms ached and his body seemed to be gradually freezing as the cold of the stone ate into his bones. Nonetheless, he kept totally still. Childhood lessons in separating the sensations of the body from the mind's reactions served him well now. And, more than this, he knew instinctively that Storm Feather had knelt in the same place in the same way. It almost felt as if they knelt together. As if the dead warrior was lending Jess his own unmatchable strength and endurance.

After a timeless interval, the faintest of sounds began to whisper through the silent cave. At first far distant, it was travelling nearer and nearer at incredible speed. Air was rushing over the wide, smooth surface like water scouring over a rapid. The cold wind which had pushed Jess across the knife-ridge now expanded to fill the cavern with its mighty hiss. And within the sibilance could be felt the beat of mighty wings.

Almost in an instant, it was at Jess's back. He felt the cold blast pushing him down so that his face ground into the stone and his skin was scoured by the sweep of those featherless wings.

The eagle's claw was snatched from his upturned hands.

Jess looked up. In the blink of an eye he saw the eagle itself. Saw the long, flexible bones of the beating wings - the translucent feathers of its ghostly plumage – the savage beak and piercing hollows of the eyes – the long curving talons as they reached out to grip.

There was a strange sound, a rustle, a rattle, clattering and grating. The huge bird settled to perch on the rock pillar. The bones petrified into stillness. It was once more like all the other creatures, motionless in its power and ancient beyond the age of the world. For a moment the shared claw sent out a brilliant beam.

Then the light vanished.

 **# # # # #**

Slim kept his eyes fixed on the light in the two bowls. He took no account of where he was going. He simply walked where the light led him. It was an easy enough ascent, a smooth narrow path, winding up and up the mountain. All he had to do was to take care of the fires – and let them take care of him.

At length he came to the top of the cliff and the brink of the knife-sharp saddleback. There he halted. He stared across the ridge, picking out the footholds and the narrow ledge with its cave-mouth on the other side. _Jess must have hated this!_ Slim did not like the look of the path much either, although heights did not particularly worry him. But he was vividly aware that he stood on a boundary. It felt as if an invisible wall was pressing against his face. He was not permitted to go further.

So he stood and held the two fires, one in each hand. He waited with all the patience which was fundamental to his nature. He watched with all the protective care which was at the root of his being. Jess would come. And when he did, he would need help.

The need came sooner than he expected. Suddenly the storm-force of a savage wind blasted into his back and whirled onward across the ridge and into the cave in a dust-cloud of powdered rock and loose earth.

Slim rubbed his eyes and blinked.

The bearer's fire was reduced to a few glowing fragments!

At once, he lifted his own bowl and poured in half of the fire. The flames surged together, melding into one and blazing with irresistible united power.

 **# # # # #**

Jess knelt in the dark. He didn't know what to do. It was so black he might just as well be blind. To reach the outer world he must cross the vast caverns, find the right cleft to pass from one to another, descend the ladder-like rocks up which he had climbed. And the faint luminosity of the snail-trail which had led him across the slippery floor no longer existed. It was impossible!

It was impossible, but it had been done. Soars with Eagles had left this cave carrying the claw which united him with his totem bird. The light of it would have been with him then. But others must have come before him. Other talismans must have been returned over the ages. Jess had seen no human remains as he made his way in. Therefore there must be a way to return to the living world.

He stood up and turned completely round. It made absolutely no difference to what he could see, but he could feel a very faint draught on his face. The barely moving air bore the scent of earth and evergreen, very different from the rock all around him. Therefore he must be facing the entrance.

Jess took his first step forward. He reasoned that since he could see nothing, something would guide him, just as he had been led into this inner sanctuary. He moved slowly but firmly forward, determined to keep his mind and his body steady, even though every nerve ending was screaming to him to panic and run blindly in hope of escape. He put a resolute trust in Leaping Cloud and in the spirit of the warrior he had freed. If there was no light around him, the fire of comradeship and courage could still burn strong within. And if comradeship meant anything, it meant Slim. Nothing was going to stop him getting back to Slim!

He took one step after another through the darkness. Somewhere at the end of this journey was the life that he was living. Here the imminent power carried the dead into transcendence. He had no place here. He did not feel the place wanted to hold him. Not, at least, while he was living. _All the same, he would be gone a lot quicker if he could see!_

At first he thought his eyes were playing tricks and filling the dark spaces with hallucination. He blinked several times, but the light persisted. In fact it was growing rapidly stronger. Jess could see his shadow cast long across the rocky floor. This finally convinced him the light was real. It was to the side and a little behind him. He turned.

Towering over him was a bear, the likes of which he had never seen before. Brilliant light was radiating from it. Its long pelt was snowy white and every individual hair seemed to be tipped with a tiny gem of water. Its massive paws were black-skinned and armed with razor claws. On its hind legs it reared up to what looked to Jess's shocked eyes as at least 9 feet and he hated to think how much over 1,000lbs it must weigh. Its gleaming gaze had locked on him and he was not surprised to see it open a vast mouth full of jagged teeth. No sound came out, however, and the fact that it was silent was almost more frightening than anything else.

Jess summoned all his knowledge and wits. _You can't outrun a bear. It can climb better than you can. Shaming dead in this place is going to be a complete failure! And it's over eight feet tall, so no way are you going to make yourself look big enough to intimidate it._

He thought again. _I came here for a purpose. I carried a talisman. I fulfilled my quest. I'm meant to return to the living._

He turned his back on the bear and, with his heart in his mouth, walked resolutely in the direction of the entrance. Almost immediately he heard the thud and shuffle of mighty paws behind him, but nothing touched him. The light faded as rapidly as it had grown.

And immediately after that a golden glow and a flicker of movement on the cougar's ledge caught his attention. He could just make out the sinuous form as its tawny coat blended with the rocks around. The glowing gold pouring out of it illuminated the way ahead briefly. Then it leapt into the shadows and was gone.

 _Great! Cougars like to ambush their prey. This is an excellent place for an ambush._

But Jess had a deep affinity for the cougar. He decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and not waste his time trying to anticipate all the places it might jump for his jugular.

 _Besides, it was glowing, wasn't it? It ought to be easy to spot._

This was a fine piece of logic, but Jess did not succeed in convincing himself that it applied. The cougar had merged too well with its background. Besides, it had left him in the dark again.

The next light came in an explosion of violent movement. The silver buffalo was charging at full speed before Jess could register its vast luminous bulk bearing down on him. The horns on the tossing head were blades of light, its eyes deep pools of crystal and its speed phenomenal.

By pure reflex, Jess reached out and grabbed a horn. He was flung hard into the air, but managed to jackknife his body so that his feet thudded down on the broad shining back. The mighty animal plunged and swerved. Jess somersaulted off its hindquarters and rolled over and over until he stopped face down again.

On the up-side, nothing seemed to be trampling him to death. On the down-side, the killing blow of the cougar was to the back of an exposed neck. And it was dark again, except for a sliver of golden light emanating from the narrow slit linking this cave to the next one. Jess leapt upright and made it through the gap just as the light began to fade. It was not enough to prevent him making the steep descent to the floor below head over heels. He landed with a resounding thud which knocked all the breath out of him.

This was a really bad position to be in. If his memory served him right, the next creature was the wolverine. Scrambling about on your hands and knees in front of one had serious drawbacks! He struggled hastily to his feet once more, feeling as if he had been beaten in every limb.

Far ahead there seemed to be a tiny gold gem fastened on the darkness. It winked out, then reappeared in another place. It did this several times. _No doubt the cougar, looking for good spot for an ambush!_ But Jess could not afford to let this distract him. The immediate danger was already beginning to shed its light on his progress.

The light was ruddy and somehow dirty. It did not really illuminate much, but at least it showed where the creature was. True to form, it was intending to launch itself from the height of one of the stalagmites. True to form, Jess did not stop to think much.

He pulled his knife from his belt and hurled into a run, heading straight for the light and the peril from which it came. "You take on things ten times your size? Well so do I!"

The wolverine approach to combat is ' _kill or be killed'_. This one recognized the same attitude in its opponent. Mutual annihilation was considered. Fortunately for Jess, his opponent, like so many others, backed away. Its powerful form turned and its light faded like the last embers of a fire.

Jess stood panting and shaking not a little. _Fire_. He suddenly longed for the quiet of his familiar armchair beside the roaring log fire and Slim's comfortable presence making possible relaxation at the end of the day. But if he ever wanted to sit in peace and share a cup of coffee with Slim again, he could not afford to let himself be distracted.

This resolution was just as well, because thundering down towards him was the massive bulk of the bull-elk. Light splintered from its hooves and scattered from its coat. Its antlers were branches of fire and every tine burned with a fierce phosphorescent gleam. One blow from this splintered armoury could gut a man and split him from head to foot. Jess had only a few seconds in which to decide how he was going to avoid this fate.

But it was not up to him. As the elk lowered its head for the final charge a slim golden streak sprang from the rocks and confronted it. The cougar crouched in the path of the charge, spitting and snarling in a manner that equaled any Jess had ever demonstrated in the morning. It reared back on its powerful hind legs, lashing out with its razor claws. The elk baulked and swerved into the shadows, its light shrinking and fading as it sped away. The cougar left a trail of light as it leapt onwards.

 _One more to go!_ Jess thought groggily, as he picked his way down the blazing trail left by the cougar. _Wolves are pack animals. They know about loyalty. There's no reason for a wolf to stop two friends joining forces again._

The shining wolf still stood atop its rocky buttress, but Jess did not make the mistake of assuming it was just a skeleton. The price of the light which had enabled him to find his way through the caverns was high in terms of danger and courage. He'd made it this far because he had not been tempted into false heroics – at least, if you discounted the wolverine. He'd just kept going with the characteristic stubborn refusal to back down or retreat. He was so close to freedom now. _Surely a wild creature would understand such a need_?

Jess halted and looked up at the wolf. The wolf looked down at him. It lowered its narrow muzzle as if judging the distance to its prey. Then it lifted its head and howled.

The sound reverberated through the cave. Jess could only hope it was not summoning a whole pack of supernatural wolves intend on rending his carcass. He applied himself determinedly to the way out.

The golden gleam of the cougar winked in on one side of the cavern and faded. A little later it appeared on the other, gleaming and dying away in the same sort of sequence. It was irritating. And challenging. Jess strode after the light, putting his whole faith in the fact that the animal would lead him to the doorway and the world he knew.

His faith was not misplaced. The glow led him swiftly through cleft and climb, cavern after cavern until at last he sensed they were close to his objective. And at that moment, the enormity of all he had been through struck his battered body and his fighting mind. The way out of the caves was only a few feet in front of him, but he could not force himself to move a step further. It was as if all his energy had been drained out of him in the effort to find his way this far. He knew he had only to duck under the archway and walk to freedom. But he could not do it.

Walk. That was the problem. He had to walk out onto that narrow ledge and still narrower pathway across the infinite drop. This time he would have nothing to support him, no spirit hovering near to protect him …

Jess froze …

 **# # # # #**

Slim stood in the cold and the darkness. Jess was near – he knew that as clearly as he knew that the mountain was beneath his feet and the wind at his back.

 _Come on! You can make it! Come home …_

His fingers ached from clasping the two fire-bowls and his arms ached from holding them up. It could not be long now. He could feel Jess's longing and his hesitation as clearly as if they were standing side by side. The bearer's flame was burning low, flickering unsteadily, so fragile that a breath could put it out.

Slim felt nothing would happen and they would both be frozen here, in this moment outside time, unless he did something to change the situation. He hesitated no longer, but took a deep breath and emptied the last of the fuel and flame from his own bowl into Jess's.

The flames surged together, melding into one and blazing with irresistible united power. A tall column of light rose up before his eyes. The flame burnt bright before him as his hands clasped tightly round the two vessels, now one inside the other. His eyes closed as he concentrated all his heart and mind on the appeal:

 _Please come home …_

 **# # # # #**

The people he loved. The friend waiting for him. The old man silently mourning. The place of ordinary, simple tasks and actions. Jess knew where he wanted to go. Something was preventing him.

He looked again at the archway.

Crouched in the opening, the lithe tawny form of the cougar blocked his way. Its mouth opened in a low growl, baring its blade-like teeth. The animal was no longer a glowing spirit-beast, but a real mountain-lion, its sleek hide rippling with anticipation and its muscles bunched ready to spring. Every line of its agile body was full of grace and power. Its slanting eyes were fixed on Jess and blue as his own. They stared at each other for a long moment.

Jess took a step forward, impelled by a feeling for this creature which he could not consciously define. The cougar snarled at him and reared back ready to attack. He stopped, unwilling to get into a fight, not because he was afraid but because it just seemed wrong. As he felt this, he realised he was still carrying his knife. He looked down at his hands and back at the animal. Then he deliberately thrust the knife back into his belt.

"I'm goin' home – and you're gonna go free!" In that instant, he realised how Storm Feather had won the eagle's claw. He had brought back to the Place of Bone someone else's talisman and in doing so had set free from its bonds of stone the eagle, whose love of the glorious sky he shared.

Now Jess just wanted to see this magnificent creature enjoy the same freedom, the call of the open range and the wild places which so stirred his own heart, despite his need for human ties. He moved towards it, almost as if to shoo it out of the cavern.

"Go on!" he told it. "Go now, while y' can."

The big cat gave another growl, this time one which was as near a purr as it might ever make. They were so close together that Jess could see himself reflected in the black pupils of its eyes. The animal was still reared up on its hind legs and as it dropped down, one massive heavy paw landed on Jess's left shoulder and the five claws raked across it and down his chest.

Jess gulped back the cry of pain trying to force itself from his lips. The cougar's broad head turned away from him as it slid under the arch and the last thing he saw of it was the lash of its disappearing tail. His shoulder burned like fire and a needle of pain drove into his chest, but he followed the cat without hesitation out onto the ledge. Once more he stood facing the path over the abyss.

There was no sign of the cougar. Jess figured that, being a natural climber, it would not be bothered at all by the ridge. He wished heartily he felt the same. He stood in the darkness and time stood still. If he was going to cross he could not do it of his own volition. He needed something to draw him over and back to his own world.

He stood, waiting and trusting. All at once, a blaze sprang out of the darkness ahead. A tall pillar of light shone steady and unwavering, sending a long beam across the narrow path. By it, Jess saw Slim's face. Nothing else. Just the breadth across those light blue eyes, the generous mouth, the strong chin. Slim was just like the light – steady and unwavering and totally reliable. Warmth and strength flowed powerfully through Jess and with it, that feeling of protection, of being watched over. Sustained by this, he moved. His left foot moved to take the first step. Then his right. And his left again. Slowly but confidently, he began to walk.

 **# # # # #**

Slim remained standing, his eyes tightly closed and his whole being focused on bringing Jess safely across the knife-edge. He heard nothing, but suddenly he felt hands close over his own around the bowl of fire.

He came back to reality and Jess was standing in front of him.

The first thing Slim saw was his eyes. They were no longer focusing on something beyond human experience. The appearance of carven bone, remote and expressionless, had left his face. He just looked utterly weary and predictably battered. Five long cuts were bleeding freely across his left shoulder and chest, while every other part of him seemed to have been bruised or scraped. But he was alive - real and human again. Slim wanted nothing so much as to fling both arms round his partner in a fervent hug, but the fact that they were both holding the bowl of fire prevented him.

Jess looked down at it and smiled. He said softly, "Warmth and strength. It was there when I needed it." A final prolonged shudder ran through him.

"You're back now. It's alright. The nightmare's over."

The answer was a soft sigh and a murmured "Thanks to you." They stood quietly together without further speech, Slim simply waiting until Jess felt able to move again.

Presently Jess stirred and loosed his hold on the bowl. He said in the same hushed tones: ""I saw it."

"The eagle?"

"Yeah. The eagle of bone."

"Was it as bad as the dream?"

"No. It was … unbelievably beautiful."

"And you gave the claw back, so it hasn't eaten you?"

"Yeah." Jess's voice was weary but content.

Slim surveyed him from head to battered toes. "Mind you, it looks as if it gave you a good chewing-over and then spat you out!" he grinned. "Guess you're just one hell of an ornery mouthful."

"I'm fine."

Slim made an indeterminate sound which was half-sob, half-laugh. "If you keep saying that, I'm going to murder you myself, since the eagle doesn't seem to have been up to it!"

"It's y' own fault." Jess gave an answering but somewhat lopsided grin. "You said it wouldn't take on the two of us."

Neither of them really realised right then how true this was. Slim just put an arm round Jess, without even bothering about whether he would object, and steered him back down the mountain path lying plainly before them.

"Come on, let's get you down to the village and patch you up."

#

EPILOGUE

#

It wasn't until Leaping Cloud had salved Jess's wounds and they were riding home, that Jess noticed the moon. He drew Traveller to a halt and sat staring at the thin nail-paring of light showing bright and cold above the rim of the mountain.

"D'you see that?"

Slim halted beside him and said gravely: "It's a moon. They have them around here, you know."

Surprisingly Jess did not rise to the bait, but said in shaken tones: "It's a new moon." Slim looked at him enquiringly and Jess told him firmly: "It was an old moon when I went into the Place of Bone."

Slim's forehead wrinkled in puzzlement. He could not recall any moon at all when he climbed the mountain.

"Now it's a new moon," Jess continued in tones of awe. "How long was I in that place?"

"I guess we'll find out when we get home," Slim observed practically, but underneath he was disconcerted.

"It was at least a whole day," Jess went on, "unless, of course time doesn't operate the same way in there."

"Seems likely," Slim agreed. They looked at each other thoughtfully, then Jess shrugged and let the mystery be. They rode on side by side.

At last they came over the familiar ridge and halted again and looked down at the relay station lying tranquilly in the still moonlight. Despite the peace and the knowledge that the nightmare had not come true, something was still bothering Slim.

"What did Leaping Cloud give you when we left?" he asked curiously.

Jess opened his left hand without speaking. Slim's eyes widened in amazement, unable to draw his gaze away.

Lying in Jess's palm was the dew-claw of a cougar.

.

.

* * *

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The setting and inspiration for this story is the amazing cave system, rock paintings and rock formations at Cueva de la Pileta, Andalucía. The stalactites/stalagmites really do form recognisable objects, including birds and animals.

The tribe and customs in this story are purely imaginary and no disrespect in intended. The series mentions Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho amongst others, but I don't feel I've done enough research to write specifically about any of these. There is no intention in this or its companion piece, _Ice Flower,_ of addressing the actual historical issues surrounding the displacement of the Native American peoples by Europeans. There were tragedies and horrors on both sides. A simple respect for both peoples is offered in these stories

Acknowledgement: _For all chapters: The great creative writing of the 'Laramie' series is respectfully acknowledged. My stories are purely for pleasure and are inspired by the talents of the original authors, producers and actors._


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